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gitmo

I had thought that it would be obvious to my distinguished recipients that the commentary transmitted below (which I received from a lawyer friend who is among those working to try to free detainees at Guantanamo who are clearly innocent) was an ironical commentary on the ease with which the United States government, its intelligence agencies and its military have in recent years been assassinating people whom they do not like, principally though not entirely through drone attacks, and on the apparently unquestioning acceptance by the mainstream media and most American public opinion of the rightness and propriety of such assassinations. Press reports clearly suggest, matter-of-factly, that these practices are, lamentably, increasing under the Obama administration.

From appalled responses which I have been receiving, it is clear that this was not, in fact, obvious -- and I apologize to anyone whom I have confused or offended.

Of course, President Obama has not -- and will not -- order drone attacks on Guantanamo. The irony is that Guantanamo may be one of the few places outside the United States where the U.S. government, its intelligence agencies and its militaryappear not to deem themselves to enjoy carte blanche to assassinate those whom they consider or suspect to be "bad guys" in the "war on terror".

The situation is similar with respect to Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the quadriplegic spiritual leader of Hamas, was not killed while in his Israeli prison. It was after his release that he was obliterated by a rocket fired from an Israeli helicopter as his wheelchair was pushed along a Gaza street after he attended early morning prayers. Those major Palestinian prisoners being discussed for possible release in exchange for Gilad Shalit might well have mixed emotions -- and concerns for their life expectancy -- relating to their potential releases.

Such trumping of the "rule of law" through extrajudicial killings of the sort being increasingly practiced by the United States of America is unworthy of any country which purports to be a democracy. It makes it difficult for me to recognize, let alone identify with, the country of my birth. The banalisation of governmental assassinations deserves to be vigorously resisted by decent people everywhere.

That is what I had in mind in circulating the commentary below. I now recognize that I should have taken the time to make it clear when I did.

TO: Distinguished RecipientsFM: John Whitbeck

Truth through irony...

EXCLUSIVE: Obama Orders Air Strikes on Guantanamo Bay

by Charles Davis / January 6th, 2010

WASHINGTON — A series of U.S. predator drone strikes just after dawn thismorning killed at least 220 suspected terrorists, many presumed to haveties with al-Qaeda, at the naval detention facility in Guantanamo Bay,Cuba, according to two senior White House officials.

“We hit the jackpot,” said one official who requested anonymity because ofthe sensitivity of the matter. “We killed a whole damn bunch of them thereterrorist sons of bitches,” the source said, the sound of clinking glassesand celebratory gunfire audible in the background.

The strikes come just days after the attempted Christmas Day attack on aNorthwest Airlines flight by a 23 year old Nigerian man alleged to havereceived ineffective crotch bomb training in Yemen. President Barack Obamahimself authorized the mission, according to the officials, upon receivingword that nearly half of the men based at the Guantanamo Bay facility wereYemeni nationals, some of whom were suspected of being Muslim and havingmaintained an interest in herding sheep, possibly in order to recruit them as suicide bombers.

In launching the attack, Mr. Obama has not only diffused a perceived threatto U.S. national security, but he has fulfilled a key campaign pledge toshutter the Guantanamo detention facility, which had become an object ofwidespread international condemnation. Meeting the pledge had proveddifficult, however, in the face of congressional opposition, with GOPlawmakers and centrist Democrats seeking to block the planned release ofthe Yemeni men housed there to their native country, where they argued itwould be more cumbersome and expensive to bomb them.

While the U.S.’s legal authority to imprison men and boys at the Guantanamodetention center has been a matter of some dispute, its right to conductdrone attacks against targets it deems potential threats has provokedlittle controversy either at home or abroad, at least in countriespopulated with white people. Indeed, even as Mr. Obama has overseen asignificant escalation in drone attacks, authorizing strikes in Pakistan,Somalia and Yemen, in addition to U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he’sreceived a Nobel Peace Prize, a recognition of his efforts to promote peacethrough war.

Given international acceptance of the drone attacks, the Obamaadministration expects the same level of support for today’s strikes, whichlikewise took place on foreign soil — as it happens, in a country deemed bythe U.S. government to be a state-sponsor of terror. As one Americanofficial put it, “if we can kill ‘em without trial in Yemen, why the hellcouldn’t we do the same a whole heckuva lot closer to our own shores?”

Though questioned by some human rights groups long considered hostile tofreedom, the Guantanamo attack has been met with overwhelming praise fromthose who actually matter, with political analysts predicting a healthyboost in the Mr. Obama’s approval ratings among the general public aswell.

“The president has shown that he’s tough, a regular blue collar guy not afraid to throw a few punches and kill a couple hundred bad guys trapped incages when he needs to, which is really going to help him win thoseindependents come 2012,” said University of Virginia professor Larry Sabatoin an interview. “You can’t overestimate the electorate’s hunger for masskilling. Monday Night Football’s got nothing on Shock and Awe.”

Cable news commentators were similarly aflutter with praise for Mr. Obama.“Can’t you just imagine this guy’s masculine musk? I mean, I just want todouse myself in whatever his sweat glands are emitting,” said a visiblyaroused Chris Matthews on his afternoon MSNBC program, Hardball.

But not all praised the president’s decision. In a fiery speech on theSenate floor, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Mr. Obama’s challenger during the2008 election, denounced the administration’s approach to the war on terroras timid, “gook league” and lacking in theatrics.

“Why weren’t these men doused in acid and set ablaze amid fireworks and theloud and proud blaring of the national anthem? C’mon,” McCain thundered.“Why was their no consideration of the history books, here — orpay-per-view? And frankly, my friends, why weren’t these men killed themoment our intelligence agencies learned they were actively living in theMiddle East?”

A couple of other people also disagreed with the president’s decision,questioning the morality and wisdom of handing one fallible man theunilateral power to order the death of anyone he chooses, but no one reallytakes them seriously.